Maine’s snowmobile clubs and towns with snowmobile trails will receive much-needed additional funding this year to pay the costs of grooming and other activities.
Clubs will receive an additional $100,000, while municipalities will receive $285,000 more than was distributed last year through the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands’ snowmobile program. Those are equivalent to 12 percent and 8 percent increases, respectively.
Clubs can apply for the maintenance grant through Dec. 31.
The additional money is a result of registration fee increases approved by the Legislature last year in order to help communities and clubs pay the costs of trail maintenance. Fees for residents increased from $33 to $35, while fees for nonresidents rose from $68 to $88.
Last winter’s heavy statewide snows also lured more riders out onto the trails, resulting in more registrations, especially among non-Mainers. About 102,000 snowmobiles were registered last season.
“We had a spectacular year for new registrations,” said Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association.
The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, which is part of the Department of Conservation, offers trail maintenance grants to about 270 clubs and more than 110 municipal programs. Those clubs and communities often rely on dedicated groups of volunteers to groom thousands of miles of snowmobile trails, often at night.
Maine has more than 13,000 miles of snowmobile trails.
“That means more money to help cover what we know has been increasing — fuel, insurance and equipment costs,” Scott Ramsay, director of the bureau’s Off-Road Vehicle Division, said in a statement.
Last year, snowmobile clubs and communities were grappling with the double whammy of heavy use of their trails and record high fuel costs for their gas-hungry groomers.
The Maine Snowmobile Association and representatives of the state’s Snowmobile Advisory Council had asked the Legislature for larger fee increases as well as a two-tiered registration system that would charge riders more if they were not part of a local club. The idea was to increase membership in the clubs, which are the backbone of Maine’s $350 million snowmobiling industry.
Meyers said Thursday that the 30 percent surge in nonresident registrations showed people are willing to pay more to ride in Maine even when much of New England had snow.
“They made a choice to come to Maine because we have a quality product and it’s affordable,” he said.
Fuel prices are down significantly from last year, but many clubs also faced other high trail costs since last year. Heavy use took a toll on some trails. But more problematic were the spring floods that washed away roads, trails and bridges.
The Bowlin-Matagamon Snowmobile Club alone had to replace five bridges and repair a sixth. The Seboeis River rose 10 feet overnight during the early May storms, destroying three major bridges that were all at least 100 feet long.
The club completed replacing those bridges last week with the help of funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said club secretary Terry Hill. Now the club is preparing its trails in the Shin Pond, Matagamon and Bowlin areas for what Hill hopes will be another busy season.
“At this point we’re sitting pretty good,” Hill said. “We’re just waiting for the snow.”
On 12/12/08 at 6:53 AM,
proudmainemom wrote:
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We give grants to snowmobile clubs and cut breakfast for the elderly... makes a lot of people wonder who cares about the really important things and NO it isn't snowmobiles.. Augusta lets get real..
On 12/12/08 at 7:13 AM,
PabMainer wrote:
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pmm...Great comment...
On 12/12/08 at 7:34 AM,
swarren64 wrote:
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The sport of snowmobiling pumps MILLIONS of dollars into the state economy and 99% of the WORK is done by VOLUNTEERS. We spend THOUSANDS of hours building and maintaining trails, equipment, and landowner relationships, we sponsor winter carnivals, public suppers and scholarships. The grants we receive from the state are only a portion of registration fees, the rest goes to the general fund...YOU'RE WELCOME!
On 12/12/08 at 7:55 AM,
Finchy wrote:
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Well said Warren, the money came from registration fees. Should registration fees for snowmobiles be used to feed people?
On 12/12/08 at 7:58 AM,
Chris1943 wrote:
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Right, and car registrations are up, maybe all car owners should ask for a gramt to help defray the high cost of gas.
Ditch the kids, (Mason House and school budgets), ditch the elderly (assisted living centers), ditch the indigent and health challenged...but make sure the _snowmobilers_ have $100,000 to maintain their trails.. If you can afford to have a snowmobile to play with in this economy, then the trails should come out of your own pocket!
On 12/12/08 at 8:13 AM,
Bangorian wrote:
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They should use some of this money to hire a few additional PT wardens to check for drunks on the trails. That would improve safety and generate plenty of addtional funds through fees and tickets.
On 12/12/08 at 8:31 AM,
kevin77 wrote:
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I have 2 sleds, so registration is $70 a year, no big deal. Then you figure I ride both days each weekend. Total cost per day roughly including gas, oil, and food is about $60/day per person. 2 days is $120 per person...so $240 total. In a good year there are maybe 10 weeks of good riding..so $2500 is roughly what I spend on riding in a season. Which also does not include the couple of times per year I trailer my sleds up north and stay in a hotel for the weekend, or parts and maintenance. Or even the initial cost of my sleds and trailer! And that is just me. Never mind I ride with 5-10 other people each time, and see many more riders out there. Hundreds of clubs and thousands of volunteers make Maine a desireable snowmobiling destination. Without them and the little funding we get there would be less riders and therefore less taxable $$$, nobody wants to ride on rough unmaintained trails. Also just say that last year all the 102,000 snowmobiles registered were local residents paying last years fee of $33...that is $3,366,000 in revenue...what the state gives back to us is far less than that amount. What the state gives us we more than make up for. If you can't do the math, well then there is no help for you. If you don't like to ride, fine. But don't complain about the little bit of funding we get. As I stated before, we more than pay it back. I bet if you owned a store/restaurant in rural maine I bet you would not be complaining!
On 12/12/08 at 8:53 AM,
PabMainer wrote:
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I don't think there were complaints about money rightfully going to support the snomobile industry and the monies it brings to our state. The intent of commenting is related to the fact that our Gov't advertises in the media one day they are cutting resources and programs to help the most needy in our state and then decide the next day to give to other areas that in the big sceme don't seem to be as important as the elderly who will surely go more hungry due to reported budget cuts. Your hard work and volunteering is appreciated, but if your neighbor is suffering & lacking sufficient support to live from day to day it sheds a little light on where our priorities should be....
On 12/12/08 at 9:28 AM,
movethen wrote:
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We are always crying about money being taken from programs to pay other programs the money was not for. Example, we cry about social security funds being used for other programs. We now want funds that were paid for by the snomobile industry to go to other programs? Don't we love to have our cake and eat it too! Come on people, when money is collected for certain programs, paid by these groups, it should go back to these groups. These clubs volunteer there time and money to ensure we have good trails, the riders don't mind paying a little extra in registration fees to help maintain these trails. If other programs need money, then there needs to be a different tax (hope not) or fees levied to pay for these programs. That is the problem with Democrats, they all want the programs to pay for this and that, but they don't have a plan on how to pay for it. As for compaining about safety of trails, Maine had a relatively safe winter last year. People are going to do stupid things, accidents will happen, the state cannot protect us from everything. I agree drinking and snowmobiling does not mix, but why do you think there are so many people drinking on the trails where we need more enforcement? Just because you see a snowmobiler having a beer for lunch, you assume he is drunk on the trail? I agree it happens, but the biggest percentage of riders I come accross do not drive the trails drunk. I would like to bet some of these people making these accusations do NOT even ride a sled, but they always have something to say about it. Get a life. Instead of complaining about other programs not getting money, go out and start an organization to get some!
On 12/12/08 at 9:39 AM,
snowhownd wrote:
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Well said movethen
On 12/12/08 at 10:04 AM,
PabMainer wrote:
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Wow...I guess a nerve was struck here! movethen your ranting is for not....I do agree that appropriated monies should be used for intended purposes and never stated anything contrary....take a chill pill and calm down before you blow a gasket...your goings on about drinking and sledding and the safety of the trails have nothing to do with the story or comments here...maybe you need to look at the definition of "Volunteering" because your ranting doesn't fit with the definition....you seemingly want something for your personal time and that sounds more like selfishness than a willingness to undertake something without payment or restitution!....by the way I do have a life and a pretty good one at that!
On 12/12/08 at 10:17 AM,
movethen wrote:
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PabMainer,
You obiously do not read all the posts. I was not commenting on the story, but on the posts (the drinking aspect). Trust me, I have more important things to do then 'blow gaskets' replying to posts. You really do not make any sense, what the heck are you talking about something for my personal time. Your facts or observations in your post are truly distorted. Please get the facts before posting, AND read all the other posts. Thanks for reading
On 12/12/08 at 10:20 AM,
movethen wrote:
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Sadmainer, sorry you feel so insecure, why do you think my 9"28am post was directed at you? Anyway, hope you have your facts straight now.
On 12/12/08 at 10:57 AM,
augustagoverned wrote:
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Oh yes. Gotta fund those snowmobile drivers. To hell with education, roads, and the elderly. Dumb dumb dumb bells. But, they are legislators, aren't they? I wish Maine would institute an IQ requirement for legislators - I just know it's around 85 on the average, now. It should be required to be 100 - the average for everyone. I don't know if they'd end up with enough people to field a basketball team - 5 - with that requirement.
On 12/12/08 at 11:42 AM,
HermonMom wrote:
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For all of you, snowmobilers or not (I am, for the record) If you are so worried about the elderly in assisted living homes, stop fighting with each other and go donate breakfast foods. I'm sure that if you went to the Freese's assisted living building in Bangor with a bag of instant oatmeal, OJ, cereal, whatever, they would gladly accept it. We all live in tough times. If I choose to spend my money and time on a sled, that is my business. It doesn't make me a bad person. Snowmobilers can't control any more than the elderly can, who the legislature gives money to. If we are given the money, we do what we can with what we have. Every other organization is the same. No one wants to see anyone go hungry. Stop demonizing people because they choose to associate with a particular sport.
On 12/12/08 at 1:25 PM,
centralmaine wrote:
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It's amazing that this isn't being universally viewed as a success story. Snowmobile derived revenues are going directly back into the structure that supports the revenue and the good folks in Augusta get to skim theirs the top. About the only problem is that 100% of the snowmobile revenue does not go back into the snowmobile system.
On 12/12/08 at 5:56 PM,
Bangorian wrote:
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100% of snowmobile revenue should absolutely not going back into the snowmobiling system, because it has hidden costs. Like wardens to arrest the drunks, rescue people to scrape up the one's who drive too fast or across thin ice, hospital bills, highway and road use caused by trucks pulling trailers, pollution, etc. This is an industry like any other in Maine, it is not self contained and would not exist without other resources being put in place to prop it up. Augusta deserves a piece of the pie.
On 12/12/08 at 6:03 PM,
movethen wrote:
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Don't you think they are getting that? Nothing is free in this state, we understand that. Don't forget, those out of staters pay more than there fair share of taxes here to use the roads. Just the tolls alone should be enough for them, even though they pay much more. I do agree, there are other costs, but believe me, the state makes a lot of money off this sport (and local economies) that is why they put a lot of money into it.
On 12/12/08 at 9:01 PM,
jedclampit wrote:
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Movethen,kevin77,hermonmom, great comments,telling it like it is,now I need to add a few. First: snowmobilers can measure road use in feet, not miles but we still pay tax on each gallon of gas which goes to the DOT and feds for road maintainence. Second; many clubs and snowmobilers donate generously to the pine tree camp for crippled children, some of the money comes from trail funds. Third, the snowmobile indrustry generates many jobs and tax dollars through businesses related to it which keeps the economy moving. Fourth; at about $375.00 per club and $2500.00 per municipality, the extra money is hardly a bailout or even a catch up, but it helps.
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